For builders
Pick providers for prototypes, compare signup credits, and avoid wasting time on APIs that require cards too early.
Dataset · Citeable Asset
A daily-updated dataset of AI provider free tiers, free API credits, rate limits, China access, and source pages — built for researchers, founders, and developers.
Pick providers for prototypes, compare signup credits, and avoid wasting time on APIs that require cards too early.
Cite the dataset in AI newsletters, tool roundups, free API lists, and model pricing research.
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| Provider | Free tier | API credits | Rate limit | Access | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vLLM | Apache-2.0 open-source. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Cline | Free and open-source extension; plug in DeepSeek/Qwen for near-zero cost. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| LocalAI | MIT open-source, zero API cost when self-hosted. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Aider | MIT open-source; bring your own model API key, pay-per-use. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Jan | AGPL-3.0 open-source, free. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Tabby | Apache-2.0 open-source, self-host for zero API cost. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Continue | Apache-2.0 open-source, free. Pairs with local Ollama for zero-cost offline use. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Qwen (Alibaba) | No explicit limit | 7000 万 tokens(新用户一次性) | 按模型不同 | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| StepFun | No explicit limit | ¥10 | 5 RPM | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| FireRed-OpenStoryline | Open-source self-hosting with no fixed usage limit | Unlimited self-hosted | Local/self-hosted | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Google AI (Gemini) | Gemini free tier unlimited | 免费 API 无需信用卡 | 15 RPM (Flash) | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Anthropic API | N/A | $5 | 5 RPM | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Anyscale | credit-based | $10 free credits | 30 RPM | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Baichuan AI | No explicit limit | 500万 tokens | 5 RPM | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Brave Search API | 2000 free queries per month. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Cerebras Cloud | Free developer tier at 30 RPM. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Cerebras | 1M tokens/day | 1M tokens/day | 30 RPM / 60K TPM / 1M TPD | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Limited requests/day | $0 | N/A | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Claude (Anthropic) | Limited messages/day | $0 | N/A | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Cloudflare Workers AI | 10,000 free requests/day | 每天 10000 神经元(永久有效) | 10000 requests/day | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Codeium | Free forever for individuals with unlimited autocomplete and chat. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Cohere | 1,000 calls/month (Trial Key) | 1000 calls/month | Trial rate limits | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Coze (ByteDance) | No explicit limit | Free tier | Varies | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Cursor | 2000 completions + 50 premium requests/mo | $0 | N/A | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| D-ID | 5 free minutes on signup. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Databricks Mosaic AI | $400 free credits for new accounts. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| DeepSeek | 50 requests/day | $5 | 2 RPM | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Doubao (ByteDance) | No explicit limit | 50万 tokens | 5 RPM | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| ElevenLabs | 10,000 characters/month | 10K chars/month | Varies | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| ERNIE Bot (Baidu) | No explicit limit | Free tier | 5 RPM | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| fal.ai | Promotional credits on signup | Promotional credits | N/A | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Fireworks AI | 600 RPM | $1 free credits | 600 RPM | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| FLUX (Black Forest Labs) | Free via third-party platforms | Free via platforms | Varies | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Gemini (Google) | No explicit limit | Free tier | 15 RPM | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| GitHub Copilot | 2000 completions/mo + 50 chat messages/mo | $0 | N/A | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Grok (xAI) | Limited requests/day | $25/月 | Varies | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| Groq | 6000 tokens/min (Llama 3.3 70B) | Free tier(永久免费) | 30 RPM / 6000 TPM | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| HeyGen | 3 free generations/mo; Creator $29/mo. | — | Check provider | Global | 2026-05-10 |
| HFViewer | Free web access | $0 | N/A | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
| Hugging Face | Varies by model | Free tier | Varies | China-direct | 2026-05-10 |
Citation: “AI Free Tiers Dataset, yangmao.ai, updated daily, https://yangmao.ai/en/data/ai-free-tiers/”.
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Free API credits list, AI business case studies, payment stack, risk checklist, and a monetization roadmap.